An Eclectic Trio of Colors for FabFri118

This week’s trio of bright colors are exciting and fresh. Lemon Lime Twist (a bright and cheery green) plays well with Melon Mambo and Flirty Flamingo (two great shades of pink). What a great combo! I reached for the super-cool Eclectic Layers Thinlits Dies to make this bright and cheery card:

And here’s the banner for the challenge that inspired my card:

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

Eclectic Layers Thinlits Dies. If your tour of Stampin’ Up!’s 2017 Annual Catalog ended when you reached the last page of stamp sets, then you likely missed all the amazing dies included in the bundles – pictures of all the dies aren’t included in the “meaty” part of the catalog. PLEASE do yourself the favor of searching through the bundles (you can see them all here) to make sure you aren’t missing something. An example? This amazing Thinlits Die from the Eclectic Layers Thinlits Die. I adore it! Here’s a closeup of the die that’s cut into the Lemon Lime Twist cardstock: Here are some other great ways to showcase this die:

Cut into the paper to leave a peekaboo panel.

Cut into the paper and snip around the edges for a standalone panel.

Cut into the paper and use the cropped out diamond-shaped pieces.

Create a template with the die that can be used to sponge the diamond-shaped images or to apply embossing paste to a card front.

Framelits vs. Thinlits. Throughout Stampin’ Up!’s current catalogs, we see a variety of Framelits and Thinlits. What’s the difference? I’ll give you a hint – you can’t always tell which is which by the name of the product in the catalog because most sets now include both. Framelits are the dies that include the basic shape (or frame) around a stamped image, while Thinlits generally include lots of intricate details. The Precision Base Plate gives a super-clean platform for cropping Thinlits dies (but not good for really small or really narrow Thinlits). Here’s a breakout of the Framelits and Thinlits in the Eclectic Layers Thinlits Dies:

Finding a Pattern. The die showcased above has a lot of little images inside it that make it difficult to create your own pattern. I found three six-petaled flowers that I filled with Melon Mambo cutouts. Beware, though, that they aren’t balanced inside the design – that’s my my circle cuts off the bottom of the cropped design. I like balance – you know that. Take a look at the design in this die and look at the all the ways you could trim it to create great patterns. Such fun!

Want to learn more about this incredible bundle and see the products in action? Here’s a look at the video Stampin’ Up! produced to showcase it: